How to Do a 6 Month Review to Check In with Your Business (+ Prompts)
As it comes up to the half-way point for the year, it’s a great time to check in with your business and review the last 6 months.
Of course, some people may choose to do this quarterly (I have a 90 day planner for that!), and perhaps you enjoy doing a mini-review at the end of each month too. Whatever works for you! However, I’d definitely doing a ‘review’ of your business more regularly than every 12 months, as that’s just such a huge stretch of time!
Completing a smaller review either half way through the year, or quarterly, keeps you on track with your annual goals and makes sure you’re still focused. Otherwise there’s a lot of scope for drifting in the wrong direction over the course of a year….
How do I conduct a 6 month review?
It’s totally up to you what specific things you want to look back on and analyse in your 6 month review, but I’ve been using the questions below as really helpful prompts and this felt right for me!
It helps too if you spent some time at the beginning of the year setting out your business goals and planning for the year ahead too, as this will help you look back and see if what you’ve achieved has been in alignment with your original plan or not.
I have an Annual Planner workbook available to download here too if you want to start from the beginning of the year!
List your biggest achievements
It’s easy as business owners to constantly be looking towards the next goal without ever appreciating how far you’ve come or the things you’ve actually already achieved, and I think this is an important part of staying positive!
In my review, I listed both business and personal achievements, but it’s up to you if you just want to write about your business. You could include hitting income goals, something you’ve launched, or perhaps trying something new that you were scared to do!
Example:
- I launched my new course, The Streamlined Content System
- Ran & sold out two live Zoom workshops
Ask which activities you’ve been doing have helped achieve these?
So you’ve hit a big goal or achieved something that’s made you feel good (no matter how small!), but what actions, habits and steps did you take that helped you achieve those things? Listing these is a great way of exposing what activities you’re doing in your business are WORKING and getting results!
Example:
- Batch working allowed me to consistently work on the curriculum for my course
- Delivering great value in previous workshops has helped with my reputation
What could I have done better over the last 6 months?
This isn’t a section that is supposed to guilt trip you; think of it as a way to kick you up the butt and get you into gear for the next 6 months! Perhaps these are things that were on your annual goals list that have slipped through the net and you’ve forgotten about, or perhaps you’ve been procrastinating on doing something.
Example:
- I haven’t prioritised creating a free masterclass that I wanted to provide
- I could have tried to start waking up earlier (I’m naturally a night owl!)
What’s worked and what will I keep doing?
Take a look at all the activities you’ve been doing in your business over the past 6 months and assess what’s been getting you the best results and what you plan to keep doing for the next half of the year.
Example:
- Building an engaged community on my email list
- Upgrading old blog posts for SEO (getting more enquiries via Google)
What didn’t work and what will I stop doing?
Likewise, what hasn’t been working so well or delivering the results you hoped for? Obviously don’t scrap things that you could maybe give a second chance, because not everything will work within 6 months - you may have to stick at it to see results! But some things might be clearly wasting your time.
Example:
- Trying to fit in course development ‘on the fly’ without scheduling time
- Creating content for TikTok for my byRosanna brand when I don’t enjoy it
What will I start doing, or improve on?
Is there anything that you’ve been meaning to start doing this year that you haven’t got round to yet, or ideas for things you need to try over the next 6 months? Perhaps there are activities you’re doing that are kind of working but need improvement?
Example:
- A new weekly email series to my email list
- Improve even more on my Pinterest marketing
Happy Moments & highlights
I included this section because I am a total believer in taking time to be grateful and appreciate moments in our lives. This is one of the best ways to be a happy, positive person! You can include just your business highlights (although this might be more like the ‘achievements’ section) or do like I did and write down your favourite things that have happened in your personal life, no matter how small.
Example:
- Invested in a mastermind group to help progress my business
- Booked our wedding venues + bought a wedding dress
- Explored a new travel destination
Goals & focus areas for the next 6 months
For this I recommend taking a look back at the goals you set for the year as a whole and the list of things you said you planned to do, and first of all - work out if they are still relevant to you! Sometimes when we plan our business far ahead, things can change very quickly and your life priorities could very well have changed over the course of 6 months… it’s happened to me before.
Then, take a look at the things you actually have achieved, and fill in the gaps. What do you need to do over the next 6 months to stay on track for your annual goals? What other focus areas do you need to prioritise for this half of the year?
As I’ve said before, feel free to include personal goals in here too!
Example:
- Launch 1:1 mentoring slots
- Encourage consistent sales of my courses without launching
- Visit 1 new place in the UK
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